Conductor grip



Sept. 7, 1965 c. A. RICKER 3,204,309

CONDUCTOR GRIP Filed June'18, 1962 2 :Lizsets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CliffordA. Ricker Arforneys C. A. RICKER CONDUCTOR GRIP Sept. 7, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1962 INVENTOR. Clifford A. RickerAttorneys United States Patent 3,204,309 CONDUCTOR GRIP Clifford A.Ricker, San Mateo, Calif assignor t0 Telsta Corporation, San Carlos,Calif, a corporation of California Filed June 18, 1962, Ser. No. 203,2364 Claims. (CI. 24-81) This invention relates to a conductor grip andguide and method and more particularly to such a grip and guide andmethod which is particularly useful for the stringing of conductors onpole lines.

In the continuous efforts to reduce the time and labor required forconductor stringing operations and in particular the stringing of powerline conductors, there is a need for a new and improved tool tofacilitate such stringing operations and also for new and improvedmethods for accomplishing stringing operations.

In general it is an object of the present invention to provide aconductor grip and guide and method which is particularly adapted foruse in the stringing of con ductors on pole lines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conductor grip and guideand method of the above character which can be utilized with aself-propelled vehicle having conductor carrying reels and a boomstructure mounted thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conductor grip and guidewhich can be quickly mounted and removed from the cross arms.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conductor grip and guideof the above character which can be utilized for conductor tensioningoperations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conductor grip and guideof the above character in which the conductor is guided to prevent itfrom slipping out of the jaws of the conductor grip.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conductor grip and guideof the above character which is relatively simple and economical tomanufacture.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in which the preferred embodiment of my device andof my method are set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a pole line and apparatusillustrating the use of my method.

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of one of the poles showing my conductorgripand guide in use.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a conductor grip and guide incorporatingmy invention.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the conductor grip and guideshown in FIGURE 3.

In general the conductor grip and guide consists of a U-shaped bracketwhich is adapt-ed to fit over the cross arm. Means is provided forreleasably securing the bracket to the cross arm. Conductor grippingmeans is fixed to the bracket. The conductor gripping means in cludes apair of jaws movable between conductor gripping and conductor releasingpositions. The jaws in a conductor gripping position lie in a planewhich is substantially parallel to the plane of the upper surface of thebracket. Guide pins are provided on the bracket to guide the conductorand to prevent the conductor from being pulled sid-ewise in theconductor gripping jaws. This conductor grip and guide is utilized inperforming a method as hereinafter described.

The conductor grip and guide is shown in detail in FIGURES 3 and 4 andconsists of a U-shaped bracket 11 which is sized in such a manner thatit is adapted to fit over a cross arm 62 shown in broken lines inFIGURES ice 3 and 4. Means is provided for releasably securing thebracket to the cross arm and consists of an eyebolt 12 which is threadedinto a nut 13 secured to one leg of the U-shaped bracket 11. As shown inFIGURE 4, the eyebolt is adapted to be adjusted inwardly or outwardly toaccommodate cross arms of various sizes. A bolt 16 is provided in theleg of the bracket 11 and is adapted to be moved into and out ofengagement with the cross arm 62 by a quick-acting toggle mechanism 17.

The toggle mechanism 17 is secured to a member 18 which is fixed to oneleg of the U-shaped bracket 11. The toggle mechanism 17 is of the typewell known to those skilled in the art and consists of a pair of members19 which are pivotally mounted in a bracket 21 secured to the lower sideof the member 18. A handle 22 is pivotally secured between the members19 and is moved as indicated by the arrow for opening and closing thetoggle mechanism. A link 23 is pivotally connected to the members 19 andis also pivotally connected to the bolt 16 which is slidably mounted ina sleeve 24 mounted between a pair of cars 26 secured to the member 18.It can readily be seen that by movement of the handle 22 to the left asindicated by the arrow in FIGURE 4, the toggle mechanism is opened towithdraw the bolt 16 and thereby release the bracket 11 from the crossarm 62. The bolt 16 extends inwardly a predetermined distance when thetoggle mechanism is closed. In order to accommodate various widths ofcross arms, the eyebolt 12 is adjusted. After this has beenaccomplished, the bracket can be readily fastened on the cross arm foroperation of the toggle mechanism 17 and also can be readily releasedfrom the cross arm by operation of the toggle mechanism 17.

Additional safety means is provided to prevent the bracket fromaccidentally falling off of the cross arm and dropping to the ground andconsists of a safety chain 31 which has one end secured to the member18. The other end is provided with a harness snap 32 which is adapted tosnap into the eyebolt 12 as indicated in FIG- URE 4.

A conductor grip 34 of substantially conventional construction issecured to the bracket 11 by suitable means such as welding. The grip isof a type manufactured by the Crescent Tool Company. It consists ofupper and lower jaws 36 and 37 which are movable between aconductorgripping position and conductor releasing positions. The upper jaw 36 iscarried by a substantially U-shaped member'38 which has one end slidablymounted on a handle 39 which is aflixed to the bracket 11. The other endis pivotally connected to a link 41 by a pin 42. The other end of thelink 41 is connected to the handle 39 by a pin 43. The lower jaw 37 ispivotally mounted on the link 41 by a pin 44. Means is provided forspring loading the grip toward a conductor gripping position andconsists of a spring 46 which has one end 46a engaging the member 38 andthe other end 46b engaging the link 41. A safety latch 48 is pivotallymounted on the pin 42 and is adapted to engage a pin 49 provided on themember 38. This latch is provided to prevent the device from droppingoff of the conductor in the event that by some chance the bracket 11should accidentally come loose from the cross arm 12. An additionalcarrying ring 51 is provided on the member 38.

It will be noted that the jaws 36 and 37 when they are in a conductorgripping position extend in a plane which is substantially arallel tothe upper surface of the bracket 11 as shown particularly in FIGURE 4.The grip 34 has been positioned in this manner to grip the conductor 52so that the conductor 52 can readily pass over the top of the bracket 11as shown in FIGURE 4. Means is provided on the bracket 11 for guidingthe conductor so that it cannot be pulled sidewise out of the jaws 36and 37 and consists of a pair of vertical spaced guide pins 56 which aremounted on the forward end of the bracket 11 as shown particularly inFIGURES 3 and 4.

This conductor grip and guide which I have hereinbefore described can beutilized in my novel method for stringing conductors on a pole line.Thus in FIGURE 1 I have shown a pole line consisting of a plurality ofpoles 61 which are provided with cross arms 62 upon which spacedinsulators 63 have been mounted. In performing my method, a conductorstringing apparatus of the type described in my copending application,Serial No. 93,684, filed March 6, 1961, is utilized. Such an apparatusconsists of a self-propelled vehicle 66 upon which is mounted :a boomstructure 67 and a plurality of conductor carrying reels 68. Theconductor carrying reel are provided with brakes 69 to applypredetermined braking forces to the reels which can be utilized toadvantage in practicing my method.

Now let it be assumed that it is desired to string a three phase powercircuit utilizing four ower conductors carried by four reels 68 on theself-propelled vehicle 66. The conductors 52 on the reels are payed outover the boom structure and :are dead ended in an appropriate manner.The self-propelled vehicle 66 is then advanced and the conductor areplaced on the cross arms between the insulators so that the conductorswill not slide off the cross arms by use of the boom structure. Thisprocedure continues until the next to the last pole is reached in thestringing operation. One of the conductor grip and guides is then placedon the cros arm 62 for each of the conductors 52. For the purpose ofconvenience, only one of the devices is shown in FIGURE 2. The device 10is laced on the pole by first opening the toggle mechanism 17 and thenslipping the bracket 11 over the cross arm as indicated in FIGURE 4 andthen closing the toggle mechanism to clamp the bracket to the cross arm.Thereafter the safety link 31 is put in place.

The conductor 52 is placed between the jaws 36 and 37 and between thevertical guide posts 56. The safety latch 48 is also hooked over the pin49. As soon as each of the conductors being strung has been placed inone of the devices 10 on the cross arm 62, the brake tension isincreased on each of the brakes 69 for the reels 68 to a predeterminedamount and the vehicle is advanced to pull the slack out of theconductors and to thereby properly tension the conductors. All the slackcan be readily pulled out of the conductors because the grips 34 are ofthe type which will release as the conductors are pulled through them.As soon as the conductors are released the devices will. quickly clampthe conductors between their jaws and prevent their rearward movement.Since the braking force can be readily adjusted for each of the reels,it is readily apparent that all of the conductors can be pulled up tothe same tension to provide the same sag in the conductors between thepoles. As soon as the conductors have been properly sagged, the braketension is substantially reduced and the vehicle is advanced to the lastpole while paying out the conductors. At the last pole, the operatorplaces hoists or conductor ullers on the cross arm of the last pole andpulls the slack out of the last span. He then deadends or ties theconductors in appropriate manner. As soon as this has been accomplished,the conductors can be cut or the cable stringing can continue. Thedevices 10 can be removed from the cross arm as soon as the conductorsare dead ended or tied. Thereafter, the conductors can be secured to theinsulators in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

From this method it can be seen that the devices 10 make it possible topull all of the slack in unison out of the previous conductors whichhave been strung by the use of a self-propelled vehicle which makespossible a great saving in time. Also, with the last span being the onlyone span to be tensioned manually, this can be readily accomplished byone man utilizing conventional equipment. Another advantage of thedevices 10 is that in the event the brakes or for some other reasonsomething fails on the vehicle, the conductors since they are gripped bythe grips 34 cannot accidentally fall to the street or ground and causeinjury or create undue safety hazards.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a new andimproved conductor grip and guide which is particularly useful inperforming a conductor stringing operation. The conductor grip and guideis relatively simple and economical to manufacture and can be readilyplaced on or removed from the cross arms.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described for use on a cross arm mountedon a pole, a U-shaped bracket adapted to fit over said cross arm, aneyebolt threaded into one of the legs of the U-s'haped bracket, a boltslidably mounted in the other leg of the bracket, a quick acting togglemechanism for moving said last named bolt in said leg, .a conductor gripsecured to said bracket, said conductor grip including a pair of jawsmovable between conductor engaging and conductor releasing positions,and means associated with said jaws for moving said jaws toward an openposition when the conductor is pulled in one direction and for movingthe jaws to a conductor gripping position when the conductor is moved inan opposite direction.

2. In a device of the character described for use on a cross arm mountedon a pole, a U-shaped bracket adapted to be positioned over said crossarm, an eyebolt threaded into one of the legs of the U-shaped bracket, abolt slidably mounted in the other leg of the bracket, a quickactiontoggle mechanism for moving said last named bolt in said leg and intoand out of engagement with the cross arm when the bracket is mounted onthe cross arm, a conductor grip secured to the said bracket, saidconductor grip including a pair of jaws movable between conduct-orengaging and conductor releasing positions, and means connected to saidjaws for moving said jaws to an open position when the conductor ispulled in one direction and for moving the jaws to a conductor grippingposition when the conductor is' moved in an opposite direction, saidjaws in a conductor gripping position lying in a plane substantiallyparallel with the upper surface of the U-shaped bracket.

3. A device as in claim 2 together with a pair of upwardly extendingguide members mounted on the bracket serving to guide the conductor andto prevent the conductor from being pulled sideways out of the jaws.

4. A device as in claim 2 together with a safety chain secured to oneleg of the bracket and means releasably securing the other end of thechain to the other end of the bracket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 481,179 8/92Klein 24-134 1,219,979 3/17 Melia 294-104 1,320,600 11/19 Bush 24-1341,449,945 3/23 Jacobsen 24-134 1,782,030 11/30 Collins 24-134 1,972,0498/34 Thomas 254134 2,188,715 1/40 Ingram 254-134 2,588,501 3/52 Dummer24-134 2,973,940 3/61 Dence 254-134 3,018,998 1/62 Eitel 254-134 DONL-EYI STOCKING, Primaly Examiner.

JOSEPH STRIZAK, BOBBY R. GAY, Examiners.

1. IN A DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED FOR USE ON A CROSS ARM MOUNTEDON A POLE, A U-SHAPED BRACKET ADAPTED TO FIT OVER SAID CROSS ARM, ANEYEBOLT THREADED INTO ONE OF THE LEGS OF THE U-SHAPED BRACKET, A BOLTSLIDABLY MOUNTED IN THE OTHER LEG OF THE BRACKET, A QUICK ACTING TOGGLEMECHANISM FOR MOVING SAID LAST NAMED BOLT IN SAID LEG, A CONDUCTOR GRIPSECURED TO SAID BRCKET, SAID CONDUCTOR GRIP INCLUDING A PAIR OF JAWSMOVABLE BETWEEN CONDUCTOR ENGAGING AND CONDUCTOR RELEASING POSITIONS,AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID JAWS FOR MOVING SAID JAWS TOWARD AN OPENPOSITION WHEN THE CONDUCTOR IS PULLED IN ONE DIRECTION AND FOR MOVINGTHE JAWS TO A CONDUCTOR GRIPPING POSITION WHEN THE CONDUCTOR IS MOVED INAN OPPOSITE DIRECTION.